Harry walks toward the sound of crying because, of course, Harry is drawn to people who are sad in order to make them happy.

He opens the door to the classroom containing the crying, and for a second he isn't sure what he's seeing.

It's a shaking ball of... blackness.

As Harry moves closer, he sees the texture to it. Feathers.

Harry, mesmerized, reached out and brushes the feathers with his fingers.

Instantly, it's moving, and suddenly Draco Malfoy is ten feet away from him, black wings flared out behind him, fear in his body language and murder in his eyes.

When Draco realizes it's him, he relaxes. The wings behind him quickly fold up and disappear.

"You saw nothing," he hisses, and moved to leave.

"You... have... wings," Harry says dumbly, unable to shake his shocked state.

A pause. "Yes."

"You made them disappear."

"Yes."

"How?"

"How did I make them disappear or how are they there?"

"Both... I guess."

Draco sighs and turns around, facing Harry as he drops to sit cross-legged on the floor. Harry copies him. Draco's wings appear again, and curl slightly around his body.

"I'm not really sure why they're there. They appeared yesterday, on my seventeenth birthday, and I'm not really sure why, but they hurt like hell."

"Can I...." Harry's eyes drift to the inky black wings. 

"Yes, I suppose you can touch them."

Harry reaches out slowly, not wanting to startle the blonde, and runs his fingers gently through the feathers. He gasps softly at how soft they are.

Draco has a small smile on his face when Harry pulls away, his expression full of awe.

"They're beautiful," he murmurs.

Draco seems surprised at this, and the wings suddenly turn a deep red. "Well, yes, I suppose they a- What?"

"Your wings just turned red," Harry whispers, pointing at Draco's red wings, which are turning purple as he speaks.

When Draco sees his wings, they suddenly turn blue, and when he gasps, they turn a deeper blue.

"Why are they doing that?" Harry whispers.

Draco's wings turn purple again. "I don't know," he murmurs curiously. "They were purple when I first got them too, but they turned black pretty fast."

"Maybe it's like a mood ring," Harry suggests. At Draco's blank expression, he continues. "It's a Muggle thing. They change color based on mood- or, they're supposed to."

"Interesting," Draco murmurs. They turn a light purple.

Harry conjures a piece of paper and a quill. "I think we can assume black is pain, sadness, etcetera."

Draco nods in agreement. "I think purple is confusion."

"And the lighter it is, it's more like curiosity. The deeper the purple, the more confusion there is. That would explain the change in shades. Blue must be fear. What were you feeling when your wings turn red?"

Draco's wings turn red again at the question, as do his cheeks. "Embarrassment." 

Harry smirks at him, and Draco's wings turn a deeper red.

"Okay, we still have a few more colors they haven't turned, so let's try to make you feel different emotions. We still need green, yellow, orange, white, and pink."

"What do we do to find them?" Draco asks.

"You can't do anything, idiot," Harry murmurs, staring down at the paper. "Just sit there and shut up."

"Excuse me?" Draco asks. His wings flare orange.

Harry smiles. "Orange is anger, then."

Draco's eyes widen with realization, and he grins at Harry. "Clever." His wings are turning a light yellow.

"And that makes yellow happiness," Harry murmurs, writing something down. "Pink will most likely be either lust or love. Which do you think it is?"

Draco's wings flare red. "I don't know."

"Hmm." Harry ignores the bright red wings. "Green, pink, and white are left."

Draco frowns. "What other emotions could they be?"

"I'm assuming we're down to lust, love, and jealousy," Harry comments. "You know what? There's probably books in the library. I don't really see any way I could invoke lust, love, or jealousy in you, so let's go down there."

Harry doesn't noticed the deep red of Draco's wings as they step out of the room.

Draco makes his wings vanish just before they step into the library. He sits down at a desk while Harry searches for books.

After ten minutes, Harry sets a book down in front of them.

"You, my friend," he says breathlessly, ignoring the fact that he had called Draco his friend. "Are a descendant of Sirens and Veelas."

Draco blinks several times. "Excuse me?"

"It's rare," Harry murmurs, opening the book. "But it's the only possible option. It can stay dormant for ages, but the genes will still go through. It has blossomed in you. It appears when you come of age, and you grow your wings. The combination of Siren, human, and Veela DNA makes you extraordinarily attractive from birth-"

"Hold on," Draco interrupts. "You think I'm attractive?"

"Anyone would be blind not to, but I was reading that straight from the book," Harry replies, his cheeks burning. "-as well as given wings when you come of age. The color of the wings will fluctuate based on your emotional range. See below for color/emotion chart."

Harry scans the page, and then points. "Okay... Red is for embarrassment, yellow is for pleasure, contentment, and happiness. Orange is anger, and pink is lust and sexual attraction. Green is jealousy- called it- blue is for fear, and purple is curiosity to confusion. Black is pain, hate, and sadness. White represents love, but the wings will not turn white until you kiss your soul mate. Once they have turned white, they never change again, unless your soul mate dies."

Heavy silence falls between the two.

"Damn," Draco murmurs. "I have a soul mate?"

Harry nods numbly.

Draco hums in thought. "Cool. Does it say anything about the pain?"

Harry nods. "That stops when you kiss your soul mate too."

"Well!" Draco hops up from his seat, smiling. "Let's go find my soul mate!"

****

They end up in the Gryffindor Common Room after an hour of researching how to find a soulmate with no results.

Draco is sitting on the couch, eating cereal as Harry stretches.

Harry's arms stretch over his head, and he feels his shirt lift up slightly. When he lowers his arms and opens his eyes, he sees Draco has dropped his spoon, and is staring at Harry with wide eyes.

Draco's wings are light pink.

"Um..." Harry blushes. "Draco... your wings... they're pink."

"What does pink mean again?"

"Ummmm..." Harry blushes darker. "Lust... and sexual attraction." 

Draco's eyes are wider, and his wings are a beautiful combination of deep blue fading to a dark red which stretches out to the pale pink in the corners. He slowly sets his cereal bowl down.

"I'm sorry," Draco murmurs, blushing dark. "I can't... control it... you're really attractive, and I-"

"Draco," Harry cuts in. "It's fine, really."

The blue has faded out of Draco's wings, and now it's just a lovely blend of red and a slightly darker pink.

"Draco, why are your wings still pink?' Harry asks quietly.

Now the majority of his wings are red, with tiny spots of pink and blue. "I-I'm sorry, you're.... really attractive, and my mind can't stop thinking things. I'm sorry, I should go."

"Draco," Harry says softly as Draco stands to leave. Draco stops, turning towards him with almost entirely blue wings.

"Stay."

Draco's wings are a watercolor of blue, purple, red and pink. He walks forward a few steps.

"Just because you find me somewhat attractive doesn't mean I'm going to end this sort-of friendship between us."

Draco relaxes, and smiles slightly. He opens his mouth to say something.

Suddenly, the doors open. Draco's wings flash blue and purple before they disappear.

Several Gryffindors step into the room, and stop when they see their company.

"What is Malfoy doing here?" Ron asks, anger in his voice.

"We're hanging out," Harry replies calmly.

"Hanging out?" Hermione cuts in. "I thought you hate him."

Harry shrugs. Draco blushes.

"Well, I don't want him here," Ron adds angrily. "Get him out."

Harry frowns at Ron, and grabs Draco's hand. The two leave the room.

As they walk down the hall, Harry looks at Draco sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

Draco just shakes his head, pain contorted across his face.

"Draco?" Harry asks, confusion and panic in his voice. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Draco mutters. "My wings just hurt a lot."

Harry wraps an arm around Draco's shoulders in comfort, and the two continue walking.

"Potter? Malfoy?"

The pair turn to see Zacharias Smith smirking at the two of them.

"Aw, are you two together? How adorable." His voice drips with sarcasm. His followers, a group of wide-eyed asshole fifth years, laugh cruelly.

Draco glares. "No. We're not. Fuck off, Smith."

Smith mutters something, pointing his wand at Harry. A jet of bright purple light shoots for him.

At a speed Harry can't imagine, Draco suddenly flares his wings, which are a watercolor of orange and black, with small spots of blue. His wings completely shield Harry, and briefly glow purple as the spell hits them.

His wings move away from Harry, and they're no longer blue-tinted, just orange and black, for anger and hate.

"How fucking dare you," he hisses. Smith's eyes are wide with fear, and Harry doesn't blame him. Draco's wings are huge, towering above his own head, fully spread.

One of the fifth years shoots a spell at him, and it hits him in the chest, sending him flying. He stands again, and dozens of wands are pointed at him and Harry.

In the second it takes them to shoot their spells, Draco launches himself in front of Harry, wrapping his wings around the two of them to create a cocoon of orange, black and blue feathers.

Harry watches them glow round him, creating a watercolor of beautiful colors.

"Does it hurt?" he asks. 

"Not really. I mean, they hurt as much as they did before, but the spells don't seem to affect them," Draco replies calmly.

They watch the fireworks of spells illuminating Draco's beautiful wings.

"Thank you," Harry says quietly. Realizing he can't really hug Draco, he kisses him lightly on the cheek. 

The orange and black of Draco's wings turns to a waterfall of red, yellow, and a touch of blue.

"You're welcome," Draco says quietly.

Harry looks around him. "You didn't know your wings could shield me," he says softly.

Draco shakes his head, purple making its way into his rainbow wings, indicating his confusion at Harry's statement.

"You were willing to get hurt for me. Without a second thought."

Draco's face and wings flush red. "Yeah, well."

Harry looks down at his hands, which are fiddling nervously in his lap. He reaches forward and holds both of Draco's hands in his own.

They stay like that for a while, holding hands and watching the fireworks across Draco's wings, as well as the occasional change in color of Draco's emotions.

Harry notices Draco is starting to get irritated with Smith and his friends still attacking him. His wings are deepening into orange and black again.

Harry leans forward and lightly kisses the tip of his nose. Draco's wings flush red.

"Why'd you do that?" he asks.

Harry shrugs. "You were getting angry again. I don't want you to be upset."

Draco's face splits into a smile, and the red makes way for yellow.

"The book said you could make patterns if you want to," Harry murmured. "Can you?"

Draco shrugs slightly, closing his eyes and concentrating. For a brief second, a butterfly dances across one wing, but it disappears. His wings darken to black in sadness.

"You made a butterfly," Harry says, a soft smile on his face.

Draco's face and wings brighten. "I did?"

Harry nods. "If you practice, you could probably make something really awesome."

Draco nods, contemplating this. His wings unfold from Harry, and he pulls him up.

Harry looks around and realizes Smith and his friends are gone. He smiles.

Draco flexes his wings, and they disappear. "Well, what now?" he asks.

"Can you fly?" Harry asks suddenly. Draco seems surprised.

"I would assume so. Let's figure it out, shall we?"

The pair go outside, far past Hogwarts boundaries, until they find a wide cliff with a single tree on it. 

"You sure you wanna test your ability to fly on a 500-foot cliff?" Harry asks nervously.

Draco's wings are blue with pure fear. "Go big or go home, Potter." 

And with those words, Draco spreads his arms and tips forward, plunging off the cliff.

Harry counts to three in his head. Four. Five.

By seven, he's worried, and by ten, he's panicking. But just as he's about to rush forward and see if Draco's body lies on the ground five hundred feet down, Draco soars upwards, a bright smile lighting up his face, his wings a bright yellow.

He lands in front of Harry, stumbling slightly, and Harry catches him, moving him upright. Draco's grin is so bright is could power all of London. His wings are practically glowing yellow.

"That was incredible!" he shouts. "It's way better than flying on a broom!"

Draco's joy is contagious, and Harry feels a smile spread across his own face.

Draco shoots off into the air, doing various tricks and flips for Harry's benefit. Harry claps every time he does a trick, and Draco's smile never falters.

After an hour or so of flying, Draco lands again, breathless and smiling. He collapses against the tree, grinning brightly.

Harry laughs. "Tired, angel?"

The nickname slips off his tongue without a second thought, and Harry's face flushes red, but Draco is so exhausted he barely notices.

"Extremely," he mutters. "C'mere. Let's watch the sunset."

Harry rolls his eyes, a quick witted response about sunset watching being for stupid couples in books on his tongue, but the comment dies in his throat when Draco runs his fingers through his hair and smiles softly at Harry, his eyes and wings illuminated by the setting sun.

Harry walks toward Draco, unsure of where to sit, but Draco moves his legs so Harry can sit in between them, and Harry's face flushes darker before he sits between Draco's legs, resting against Draco's chest. Draco's chin rests on the top of Harry's head, and his wings curl slightly around them, leaving enough room to watch the sunset, but curled enough so they can't see the rest of their surroundings.

Harry sighs softly, a smile on his face. Draco's arms tentatively wrap around his waist. Harry blushes, glad Draco can't see his face, and holds Draco's hands.

He tries to not think so much about the fact that they are acting exactly like a couple.

He watches the sun go lower, and the sky splits into a watercolor of red, orange, yellow, and pink.

He notices Draco's wings changing. Where they were originally yellow, the colors are now changing to match the sunset, and suddenly it looks like the sunset is all around them.

"Wow," Harry murmurs. "It's beautiful, Draco."

"I didn't even know I could do that." Wonder is in Draco's voice, and Harry smiles.

The colors of the sunset fade around him, and Draco's wings are a pale yellow as the sun slips away.

**

The sky is full of stars, and Harry doesn't remember the last time he watched the night sky.

Suddenly, Draco's wings are changing again, and they're a deep black with lights scattered across.

"Draco..." Harry is breathless. "How did you...?"

"I just looked at the sky. And decided I wanted my wings to look like it. And... there it is."

Harry is content and happy, and a smile slips across his face as he falls asleep in Draco's arms.

***

He wakes up to bursts of light, and sees the sun rising. Most of the color is gone, but there are tinges of red and orange near the bottom.

Draco's wings are a pale yellow to show his contentment, and his breathing tells Harry he's sleeping.

Harry smiles, and slowly stands, moving closer to the edge of the cliff to watch the last traces of red and orange disappear.

It's not really a sudden realization, more of something Harry already knows and is content with.

I'm in love with Draco Malfoy.

It isn't a shock, it isn't sudden or surprising or upsetting. It's as calm and as peaceful as the sun rising.

I'm in love with Draco Malfoy.

Harry smiles at the thought. He knows he probably isn't Draco's soulmate, but he loves him, the purest kind of love, and if Draco has a soulmate, Harry thinks he can be okay with that as long as Draco is happy.  

He'll always have these moments to remember. Draco's smile when flying, the warmth of his arms holding him, the shyness of his voice, his instinct to protect him no matter the cost, his wings changing to match the sky, the peacefulness of him sleeping as the sun rises.

Harry sits down, letting his feet dangle off the edge of the cliff. He won't fall, he knows that. He's not sure why he knows, but he has a calm feeling in his chest that tells him he's not going to die today.

He hears the rustle of wings as Draco comes up behind him, and sits down next to him. He feels the weight of Draco's wings curling around his shoulder, and he smiles because he loves Draco Malfoy.

Draco is holding his hand now, and the sunrise is gone, giving way to day, and Harry smiles because he loves Draco Malfoy.

"I love you," he murmurs calmly. He knows it will shock Draco, that Draco will jump up in surprise, and possibly leave, but he doesn't mind. He loves Draco.

However, Draco does none of these things. Instead he smiles, and hugs Harry tighter with his wing.

"Good," he whispers.

"Are you going to kiss me?" Harry asks.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I love you too, and if I kiss you and my wings don't turn white, I don't know what I'll do."

"Better to find out now before we both fall too deeply in love," Harry murmurs.

Draco contemplates this for a moment, and sighs. "Alright."

They turn their heads toward each other, and Harry kisses Draco softly.

Harry pulls away.

Draco's wings are a pale yellow, but they darken to black when he realizes they aren't white.

It hurts more than Harry thought it would, because now he knows that he isn't Draco's soulmate.

Harry stands quietly, ad kisses Draco's cheek. 

"Good luck finding your soulmate, angel. I hope you find them soon, and I hope they cherish you."

Harry Apparates away, and Draco's black wings curl around his body as he cries.

**

Harry doesn't break as he Apparates away.

He doesn't break as he wanders throughout the forest, alone.

He breaks when he reaches a cliff, one that looks far too similar to the one Draco is currently curled up crying on.

He breaks, and he screams.

He screams in pain and frustration and heartbreak because Draco isn't his soulmate.

And for a brief minute, he considers throwing himself off the cliff.

Instead he Apparates back to Hogwarts with tear-stained eyes and a shaking body.

When he reaches Gryffindor Tower, Hermione is behind the portrait.

"Harry?" her voice is worried. "Harry, did Malfoy do something to you?"

He breaks down again, and hugs her tightly, crying.

She moves them to the couch, and lets him cry. She doesn't ask any questions, doesn't push him away. She just hugs him close, and lets him cry, and whispers comforting words.

And through tears, Harry explains everything that had happened since he found Draco in the classroom with black wings and tears on his face, to the point where he left him in the same position.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione whispers softly, tears shining in her eyes at his story. "I'm so sorry."

**

It's been a month and a half since Harry and Draco have spoken. It's currently July 30, and Harry still misses Draco.

They haven't talked since Harry left Draco out on the cliff. He knows Draco has tried kissing multiple people, but his wings still aren't white.

It's almost midnight, and Harry is just lying there, staring at his ceiling.

What if he hadn't left him there?

Would they have just ignored all soulmate rules and fallen in love anyways?

Harry knows the answer, but refuses to admit it to himself.

He stares at the clock, counting down the seconds until he's seventeen.

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

One...

Pain.

**

It's early in the morning, but Harry can't stand sitting in bed anymore. He rushes into the Common Room, where he finds Hermione drinking coffee.

"Good morni-" Hermione's cup shatters to the ground as she sees Harry's wings.

"I know." Harry Vanishes the mess, and starts making Hermione a new cup. "It hurt like hell, and it still sorta hurts."

"Harry..."

"They haven't changed color, mostly because I'm a sad piece of shit."

"Harry."

"But now I gotta find a soulmate, which I really don't want to do."

"Harry!"

"What?" Harry snaps, turning around. His wings flare orange before returning to black and then vanishing.

"Harry, in the extremely rare occurrence that a Veela/Siren descendant's soul mate is another descendant, the wings will not turn white until both soulmates have grown wings."

Harry is breathless for a moment. "Hermione... What are you saying?"

Her grin is blinding. "Harry, I'm saying Draco might be your soulmate."

Harry blinks, frozen. Then he shoots forward, wrapping Hermione in a hug with a thousand thank yous, and runs out the door.

He's half running, half flying. His feet are running as fast as he can, but when coming upon stairs, he just throws himself off the side and floats down, desperate to get to Draco as fast as possible.

His wings are carrying him off the ground to the point where he's practically skipping, and suddenly he's at the door to the Slytherin Dorms.

He bangs on the door quickly. It opens, and an annoyed Pansy Parkinson is standing there.

"Potter?' she asks in disbelief.

"I need to see Draco," he says quickly.

Her expression is sympathetic. "Potter..."

Harry wills his wings to appear, and Pansy's eyes grow wide. She moves aside and Harry's wings vanish. 

Pansy points out Draco's room, and Harry rushes to it, knocking.

"What?"

"Draco, it's me. You need to see something."

A pause, and then the door opens. "Harry?"

Harry's smile is so bright it's blinding.

"Harry, what are you-"

He's cut off by Harry's bright yellow and blue wings appearing.

Draco is shocked. His mouth is moving, but no sounds come out.

"In the extremely rare occurrence that a Veela/Siren descend-" Draco starts to recite softly from the textbook.

Harry cuts him off with a kiss.

He feels all pain from his wings drain away, and when he pulls back, Draco's previously blue and black wings are white.

He curls his own wings to see it, and sure enough, it is also white.

Draco's smile is bright, and he's crying from happiness.

"I love you, I love you," he murmurs over and over as he pulls Harry in for a hug.

"I love you too, angel."